Pages

Monday, May 27, 2013

U.S. soldier Brandon Patterson is reunited with his missing dog Alfaba after she went missing for more than 18 months...

ATLANTA -- Brandon Patterson was serving in Iraq, when he
got the heartbreaking call. It appeared his dog Alfaba had found a gap in the
sitter's fence and wandered away.

Helpless to do anything from so far away, Patterson asked
his friends to post flyers and ads on Facebook, but Alfaba had disappeared.

"It's been very difficult just for closure. Just not
knowing where she was at, if she was still alive?" said Patterson.

Patterson says he never stopped looking for Alfaba, keeping
an eye out every time he saw another dog, and he certainly couldn't bring
himself to adopt another.

"I think that I wanted to wait until I kind of have a
peace about this and I never really did," he said.

Now he knows why. Cobb County Animal Control says Alfaba was
one of nearly 40 dogs pulled from the house of an elderly woman, who also had
dozens of cats and birds, all stuffed in cages inside her tiny house.

"Her back is black fur, but it was just dense with dirt
and grime. You could tell she hadn't been brushed in a very very long
time," said Judy Price, a volunteer with Atlanta Pet Rescue &
Adoption.

Price was one of the first rescue volunteers called to the
house to help. The shelter couldn't take
them all, but wanted to find as many good homes as possible.

"The wire cages (were) stacked double high, very dimly
lit. The shades were pulled down so no
one could see in. Cats (were) perched on
any surface imaginable. The smell of old
urine was almost caustic," Price said, describing the conditions inside
the house.

Price took three of the dogs and called Erika Dillingham for
help in finding the right place for Alfaba, since she had experience with his
breed, a Welsh Terrier.

Dillingham volunteers with Society of Humane Friends of
Georgia and American Fox Terrier Rescue.

Dillingham says she could feel Alfaba's microchip in her
shoulder, even though a vet checking the dog out, said she didn't have one.

The next day she went to another vet to have it checked
out. Unfortunately, the information
didn't lead her directly to Patterson so she tried to track down the chip's
maker and where it was purchased.

"It took a lot of internet searching and a lot of phone
calling," she said. Even when she
did get a number for Patterson, it was disconnected.

Finally, the company where the chip had been purchased
called back with another number. It was
just the number she needed to reunite Patterson with Alfaba. It came just in time, because plans were
already in the works to send Alfaba to a home in Montana.

"She started bouncing in the air and her tail was going
a million miles a minute," said Dillingham.

Patterson says Alfaba is already up to her old tricks.

"Whenever I got out of the shower she would always lick
my legs. She continues to do that,"
he said with a smile.

Dillingham says the story is a great reminder to all pet
owners to update the information associated with their pet's microchip. She also encourages pet owners to register
their animals with several services, and use several numbers for good
samaritans trying to reach you!